Looking Into Space

John Turnbull, SES Networks, Australia, explains how the mining industry is being transformed with multi-orbit satellite-driven broadband technology.

Mining, a traditionally land-based industry, is beginning to look very different. Advanced satellite technology, previously financially viable only for military organisations with deep pockets, has become increasingly democratised. With the cost of deploying satellites decreasing over the years due to technological advancements, more mining companies now have access to their capabilities to transform yesterday’s mines into fully connected intelligent mining ecosystems.

The mining industry is not entirely new to satellite technology. Satellites provide mining companies with aerial imagery and geophysics for exploration, and remote mines have traditionally invested in very small aperture terminal (VSAT) systems to transmit and receive data, voice, and video signals via a satellite

network over long operational life cycles. However, legacy VSAT systems lack the bandwidth and flexibility to support modern mining operational requirements.

Because of past telecommunication and network investments focused on analogue voice and narrowband data connections, many mining companies now find they have limited connectivity between mining sites, resulting in information and operational technology (IT/OT) systems and processes that exist in separated silos. Together with disparate, ageing excavation and transport equipment, this has perpetuated a highly inefficient ‘pit-to-port’ manual production path.

Advancements in mining operations

Sustaining mining lifecycles and profits for years in a constantly changing market requires fully connected and more intelligently automated systems. A multi-orbit satellite system is one of the most cost-effective ways to achieve the performance and availability necessary for these connected next-generation solutions.

Forward-thinking mining companies, such as Guyana Goldfields, Newcrest Mining and Ivanhoe Mines, among others, are using IP and Ethernet services delivered over SES Networks’ multi-orbit satellite technology to expand mine productivity, improve safety, and drive positive business outcomes.

Such next-generation multi-orbit satellite systems combine low-latency medium earth orbit (MEO), geostationary earth orbit (GEO) wide-beam, and geostationary earth orbit high-throughput satellites (GEO HTS) to provide mining companies with high-performance broadband connectivity in even the most remote locations.

Investing for long-term competitive advantage

Mining companies want to improve profitability, productivity, safety, and resource management. Yet, they also operate in a volatile environment where commodity prices constantly fluctuate, price declines can quickly impact profit margins, and where there is always pressure to cut costs. However, cost-cutting without investing in smart technology or converged broadband-connected systems, while boosting the bottom line short-term, would only leave mining companies competitively disadvantaged in the long run.

Budget cuts can cause productivity slowdowns and closures that further compound financial woes. Cost-cutting alone, without productivity and efficiency boosting technology in mind, can lead mining companies to reduce operational capacity and output and underutilise skilled mining personnel – resulting in them becoming less competitive over the long-term.

The broadband advantage

Fortunately, the transformation to broadband connected mining does not require heavy infrastructure investment or major upgrades to IT/OT systems. By deploying and linking new Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) capable sensors and programmable logic controllers (PLCs) embedded in trucks, conveyor belts, excavation tools and equipment to cloud-based IIoT platforms, mining companies can remotely monitor, control, and manage mining assets and all aspects of their operations across far-flung locations.

Moreover, connected mining operations benefit from telemetry and ‘big data’ intelligence that provide operators and commodities traders with a consistent flow of aggregated, real-time data, from which they can proactively derive insights to act more quickly in response to market changes.

Additionally, low-latency, fibre-equivalent broadband connectivity with differentiated quality of service (QoS) capabilities ensures high performance, application-aware access to internet, cloud and private network content and business applications – as well as enhanced mobile 3G and 4G/LTE device performance – at mines anywhere. Mining operators can quickly and easily connect to cloud and edge applications, sensors, and remotely controlled mining vehicles, robots, and equipment to gain true process and operations efficiency. Transforming legacy mines into flexible, future-proof smart mines will simplify mining operations, so that on-site and remotely located personnel can focus on improving metrics and pit-to-port productivity and yield, not managing complex communication and IT/OT systems.

Figure 1. Modern mining equipment is being filled with sensors that deliver millions of data points every day.

Improvements in effi ciency, safety, and uptime

At the same time, broadband connected mining equipment and systems improve safety, productivity, and efficiency for mining operators. Mining vehicles, such as excavators, trucks and bulldozers, can be remotely controlled via hand-held devices used on site to operate unmanned

equipment in dangerous blast zones, underground mines, or on unstable ground. Video, sensor data, and control software delivered over a broadband connection can give operators real-time control of vehicles and equipment from a more protected environment.

Fully connected mines also enable operators to facilitate and troubleshoot operations at multiple sites, using autonomous controls for mining vehicles and their critical functions, such as: ignition, steering, transmission, acceleration, and braking. Production-specific functions, such as blade control, dump bed control, excavator bucket and boom operation, can also be controlled without the need for on-site operator intervention. Ivanhoe Mines

Ivanhoe Mines partnered with SES Networks at its Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It needed a turnkey network solution that would bring fibre-like connectivity at its greenfield site and support the latest communications applications.

Using managed services and fibre-like connectivity powered by SES’s MEO satellite fleet, on-site operators could access videoconferencing to connect with subject matter experts at headquarters; utilise cloud-based applications to view and upload critical data, thus optimising workflows and data visibility; and achieve improvements in overall productivity and safety.

Case studies

New technology is critical to the future of mining, with digital technologies promising lower operational costs and better utilisation of existing assets. Capabilities such as real-time data visualisation, analytics, automation, and virtual/augmented reality point towards improved safety, efficiency, and profitability.

Newcrest Mining

As a forward-thinking mine operator, Newcrest Mining wanted to bring digital solutions to its mining sites – such as sensors, machine-to-machine protocols, real-time voice, video, and data applications – which were all vital throughout its operations. It faced increasing pressure for broadband to drive its business-critical applications.

After both microwave and submarine fibre optic cables were deemed unviable for its remote location, Newcrest did an overhaul to replace its VSAT links. The brownfield mine now runs on SES’s fibre-equivalent MEO connectivity, which quickly turned the situation around by accommodating different operational technologies, supporting Newcrest’s SAP system and Office 365 applications, as well as offering future-proofing for emerging digital solutions.

Looking ahead: the future of mining

In the future, mining operations will be fully broadband-connected and automated. Mining solutions will enable automated mining via high-throughput hybrid MEO/GEO satellite systems that provide ubiquitous internet and private network connectivity at throughput rates of more than 2 GB/sec.

Low-latency MEO satellites will connect IoT sensors for real-time data capture, enable the use of wearable technology to monitor miner well-being and safety, and facilitate the operation of autonomous equipment and drones that stream real-time video feeds from inspections and monitoring. GEO satellites, in the meantime, will ensure business continuity.

This is a future that is already fast approaching. Multi-orbit satellites already cover 99.9% of the Earth and can ensure future-ready hybrid networking solutions by integrating GEO and MEO satellites, in order to deliver fully connected intelligent mining ecosystems and ground-breaking cloud connectivity. This integrated approach promises connectivity that surpasses the limitations posed by terrestrial infrastructure, reaching new markets and under-served areas.

The adaptability of GEO-MEO-Cloud constellations also allows for easier 5G rollout. An effective global 5G network needs to be built on an ecosystem of interconnected networks and infrastructures, utilising complementary technologies that comprise both terrestrial and satellite infrastructures. Multi-faceted, hybrid satellite service offerings deliver a path for mobile network operators to expand their reach, and thus deliver on the prospect of stable, universal 5G coverage and services worldwide.

By 2025, as many as 1100 satellites could be launched each year, up from 386 launched in 2018. As satellite costs continue to fall, more companies will be able to reap the benefits. With more mining companies looking into space, the future of mining operations is right on track to be fully broadband-connected and automated.

Figure 2. It has become crucial for mining companies to improve their abilities to analyse real-time information.